Then there was the chance to briefly enter the Medal Room
with walls lined with paintings, photos and shadow boxes of medals. Some are originals, donated by families, others are reproductions of the military awards of various key British Army Medical Personnel over the centuries.

Sock Wars III

Sent off this pair of Detonators knit out of STR Silky Tide Pool –
toward the US while at the Mailroom this afternoon. Best I can figure, since I sent them out regular priority mail is that they will take at least a week and probably longer to arrive. This is fine with Peety, she is not in a hurry to be killed off. I admire her dedication, since she has finished up four kills. For what ever reason, I had so many flaking out around me that most of my time was spent doing little but chatting on the forums and waiting.

Arches

From Wednesday’s adventures in Bournville. Passing under the chocolate arch, there was no point in taking a bite.

Have you ever noticed the relationship between the weight of your bag and the length of time it has been over your shoulder?

Especially in the case of a back pack carelessly slung over one shoulder; the epitome of cool.

Is it arithmatic? Exponential? Or logarithmic, that increase of weight over time.

I can make a case for any of the above.

At the beginning of the day, fresh and full of energy with all those essentials packed carefully, your set off on your journey. The beverages are drunk, the snacks eaten as the day progresses. Perhaps a round or 40 are knit on that sock and a few photos are taken. The bag weighs heavier as the hours pass. Nothing has been added, no shopping, purchases or souvenirs accumulate for the return journey.

So why does that pack drag you down so much at the end of the day, heavier it seems by far as you trudge from the train station through town back to base?

Out the Windows

At work

And at home. Before you ask – all the mowers on my street seem to be non-operational. If it rains much more, the swath that the Mole accomplished when he was here is going to disappear.

Sock Wars III Continues

For the affectionadoes – Fran even developed a spreadsheet. I trust that none of you will use it for Spam.

There aren’t any Obits today. There are 700 (as of 2330) fallen knitters, they are just not posting. Waah.

I have had a lovely evening – listening to old Podcasts and knitting these socks. Took out the first toe just in case and I am now doing them both at the same time to make sure that I have enough yarn. STR is not generous with Silkie yardage. A progress picture – and I will post the completed pix before they go in the mail.

The Viking Ship Sweater

On hold for just the day – but this is the catch-up photo, you can see one half of the body completed. The second side is lacking four rows. Since I am doing these back and forth to accomplish the neck shaping, they are a bit slower (two handed purling anyone?).

Admittedly, I did feel a little bit sulky when I noticed that the temperature in Heidelberg was 24 degrees while it is a whopping 15 here. Still, I had sunshine for a good portion of the day. Enough so that I could enjoy all the small blooms in the back yard (ok, garden. I will learn the proper British terminology one of these days. Right about when I finish and head back to Germany.)

When I figured out that it was much warmer outside than inside (heat? what heat? It is May, no one runs heat in May. Even if they had working heat which I don’t.) I opened up doors and windows. With a nice cross breeze I might have suceeded in raising the temp a degree or two. Seems like brick walls hold the cold stubbornly not giving up without hours of coaxing.

I have flowers

None of which show what the lawn is starting to resemble

At least, that is my excuse for not cutting the grass. All those little flower heads would be decapitated. Given a choice, I would much rather have long grass than lose all the flowers. And I would rather look at flowers than do laundry. With a clothes line and sunshine, I didn’t see that opting out would be all that smart.

Spinning

Took the wheels outside

The Paulitz
The Dutch wheel.
Finishing up the first two bobbins of singles
It gives some great colour combinations when plyed. Lazy here – just going from one wheel directly to the Dutch Wheel. A bargin off Ebay a few years ago, the bobbins will hold a good 300 gm of finely spun yarn. With the low ratios, it take forever but is makes it easy to avoid over spinning.

Socks

Anyone else remember the old Sockknitters Listserve? When one new sock knitter mentioned how weird her socks looked, I told her to go and look at the Museum of Odd Socks.

The Barcelona pair doesn’t qualify for membership. I rather like them.

DvD

The BBC production of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple: The Moving Finger and At Bertram’s Hotel.